The present invention relates to a printer which has only one print station, but which is capable of printing on two different types of record media, one being a continuous type of record medium, such as that used for printing a receipt, which is stored in the printer, and the other being a record medium such as a slip which is introduced to the printer from outside.
An example of a one-station two-function printer is disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Specification No. 42474/81 in which a receipt feed path is changed from its original position in connection with the switching of the printing modes to withdraw a receipt tip from a passage of a print station thereby to permit the insertion and printing of another record medium.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Specification No. 14978/84 discloses a printer of the type in which a paper not to be printed thereon is taken up until it reaches a passage positioned on the outside of a print station to permit the insertion and passing of a paper to be printed and in which feed rollers respectively adapted to feed two types of paper can be selectively driven by one motor.
In the above-mentioned conventional printers, switching means to change the passage for a record medium itself or to switch rollers to be connected with a carrier motor is needed in order to perform printing on two different record media at one station and hence the structures thereof are relatively complicated.
In addition, since a slip is frequently thicker than a receipt, it is desirable to adjust a gap between the print head and the platen in proportion to the thickness of the slip. Accordingly, the prior art needs a mechanism for the gap adjustment in addition to the above mentioned means. As has been described above, in the conventional one-station two-function printer, various switching means are needed in order to switch various elements of the printer in conformity with various record media, so that the general structure of such a printer is relatively complicated.